March 2017

18Mar

Why is Brazil pushing ahead with contentious pension reform?

After the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, Temer ascended to the presidency promising wide-scale economic reform. Temer has since unveiled a Private Partnership Investment Program (PPI), which seeks to lift Brazil dramatically out of recession. On March 7th, the fiscal plan gained momentum following the unveiling of 55 privatized infrastructure concessions, with investments valued at $14.4 billion. The hope is that a sweeping privatization program will encourage a boom in investment and public spending. As of yet, Temer’s policies have not...

March 18, 2017
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17Mar

UK’s pensions rescuer warns of zombie attack

For a man who might be considered to have one of the stuffiest jobs in Britain, Alan Rubenstein does not conform to type. As chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund, the 60-year old qualified actuary and former Lehman Brothers investment banker has just celebrated his ninth year as the UK's chief rescuer of crisis-hit pension funds. Full Content: Financial News

March 17, 2017
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17Mar

US. Retirement industry to undergo major changes with or without DOL fiduciary rule

The business of saving for America's retirement is changing. The retirement industry is facing a $7.7 trillion gap, and the Department of Labor's new fiduciary rule, which states that advisers must give clients the best advice at a reasonable price, is at risk. The rule was originally supposed to take effect on April 10, but President Donald J. Trump in February ordered its review, resulting in the DOL's recent proposal to delay the rule's implementation for 60 days. Regardless of...

March 17, 2017
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17Mar

UK. It may be a case of prepare a proper pension or prepare for poverty

Pensions are undergoing some radical changes. Many more workers are accessing pension schemes through auto-enrolment, even if the adequacy of many of these schemes is poor. Good quality Defined Benefit (DB) – where you know what you put in and what you’ll get out – schemes are being replaced by often poor quality Defined Contribution (DC) – where you only know what you’ll put in, not what you’ll get out. DC schemes shift the investment risk from employers to...

March 17, 2017
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16Mar

UK. BMW workers hold protests over pension scheme closure plans

Members of Unite held demonstrations at the Mini plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire, and the Hams Hall engine plant in the West Midlands. The union said closure of the BMW occupational pension scheme could see some workers lose up to £160,000 in retirement income. A ballot for industrial action is being held, with the result due at the end of the month. A BMW statement said: " BMW Group has always prided itself in providing excellent pensions for all its staff and wants...

March 16, 2017
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16Mar

Germany. Lufthansa, pilots agree wide-ranging deal on pay, pensions

Lufthansa and its pilots' union have reached agreement on a wide-ranging labour contract, including pay rises, changes to pension schemes and job creation, bringing an end to years of wrangling and strikes, the two sides said on Wednesday. The agreement on pensions and early retirement payments will boost the company's profit in 2017 and reduce its pension liabilities by a high hundred-million-euro amount, it said in a statement. In exchange, management has agreed that at least 325 of its planes will...

March 16, 2017
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15Mar

Public Pensions and the Assets That Could Sustain Them

For decades, when cash was scarce, corporate pension-plan sponsors have made in-kind contributions -- non-cash assets such as securities and real estate -- to fund their retirement plans. US Steel, for example, contributed 170,000 acres of timberland to meet its pension liabilities. General Motors used securities from a subsidiary company. Facing bankruptcy, Pan American World Airways transferred the lease for its flagship terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport to its pension funds. These private-sector plan sponsors looked to their...

March 15, 2017
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15Mar

Collapsing pensions will fuel America’s next financial crisis

Washington has a knack for ignoring long-term financial shortfalls and painting overly rosy scenarios about the future to make their numbers work in the here and now. Case in point: Donald Trump’s unrealistic projection that the U.S. economy will grow at 3% this year, when the latest GDP forecasts have actually been reduced to 1.8% by a number of economists. Then there is Social Security. Many politicians are just too intimidated, uninformed or complacent to tackle the unsustainability of Social Security...

March 15, 2017
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14Mar

US. Insurance Companies Taking Over Pensions

US insurers are buying corporate pension plans at a record clip as rising interest rates and all-time high stock-market values give companies the perfect excuse to offload them. “The movement is expected over time to transform the management of pensions for employers, which can slash their exposure to the volatility of the stock and bond markets, as well as for the insurance industry, which gains a source of growth at a time when some traditional businesses are slipping,” The Wall...

March 14, 2017
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14Mar

Iceland lifts foreign capital bans for Pension Funds to invest abroad

Iceland lifted its remaining capital curbs on Tuesday, ending more than eight years of controls on businesses and citizens put in place after its banks collapsed during the financial crisis. Icelandic lenders buckled under the weight of huge debts amassed over years of overseas expansion, spreading instability through other European nations and making the country a symbol of the excesses that helped to trigger the financial crash. The government started dismantling capital controls last year by easing restrictions for local residents...

March 14, 2017
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